


The Amber Pendant

by The_Exile



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkwardness, F/F, Hugs, Magic, Post-Game(s), References to Illness, Science, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 23:51:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18766894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/pseuds/The_Exile
Summary: Rita has devoted herself to Estelle since their quest ended: trying to build a device that helps Estelle with her health problems, negotiating for the changeover of technology to be slightly less cataclysmic to civilisation, and most importantly, giving the Princess a sanctuary to turn to at any time, free from the political machinations of the royal court.





	The Amber Pendant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [diabla616](https://archiveofourown.org/users/diabla616/gifts).



> labelled as AU because I suspect some of the things happening would be impossible in canon and its been a while since I played

She had a feeling that Estelle would like her newest model.

The most advanced so far, it was significantly smaller and more lightweight than the previous. Her goal was to shrink it down until it was practical for someone who needed it constantly for a normal life to carry it around without any significant encumbrance. Estelle was surprisingly strong for a Princess whose life energy could no longer sustain itself - probably a result of all the battles they'd been through together in order to win the kind of peace they needed to come up with breakthroughs in medical technology. However, Rita planned to make this device available to everyone after it was perfected, so she would need to make it usable by children and the elderly. 

Although she had to admit to herself that she felt a lot better working on things that weren't weapons, her aims weren't entirely humanitarian. If she only charged a couple of hundred Fol each for these things, she calculated, she'd rake in a fortune. That wasn't THAT much, probably what they would pay for their groceries. There were going to be more and more cases like Estelle's once the world switched away from blastia use - people's natural levels of aer were going to destabilise wildly before they settled into their new balance.

Rita had also been fighting to enforce a much more gradual switchover than the Entelexia's original proclamation that all Blastia use immediately ceased. Estelle herself had been a great help in this. Her social skills had improved dramatically over the course of her adventure - she'd been practicing as well, taking every opportunity to uncover and take out the more corrupt elements of Aspio's research facility, while secretly returning to her new second favourite profession of catgirl waitress - but this was a world away from international negotiations where your viewpoint was unpopular in the eyes of semi=immortal God-beasts! This was definitely more Estelle's speed. Rita had taken the side role of expert in the negotiations, which had still meant learning a lot more about how important her proposition was to people's everyday lives and the stability of nations, where before she'd always insisted on a purely scientific viewpoint in life. 

Once again, it felt kind of good to know that she was helping people, though. Gradually, she was discovering that people stopped hating her, especially when she actually plucked up the courage to appear in public so that they could associate her with the quality of life improvements and the harsh punishments that befell any researcher caught doing anything dodgy. This last part was especially satisfying and allowed her not to completely abandon the crueler side of her nature.

Estelle gave her own inputs into the designs herself. Primarily, she made sure they were stylish enough to be worn in a royal court, without anyone realising they were anything more than another accessory to make her outfit go together even more perfectly. This was especially important, she'd admitted in private, for more delicate negotiations where she wouldn't entirely put it past some of the aggrieved parties to try and interfere with a piece of life support equipment if they thought they could get away with it. However, Rita didn't think she needed that excuse: she wouldn't dare detract from a regal beauty like Estelle's by making any additions that clashed with her style. The current incarnation of the device looked like a small amber Magatama pendant that nestled on the nape of her neck on a silver chain, matching the curved, looping aesthetics of the filigree around her ceremonial armour and giving her a slightly spiritual look, as befitted a Princess whose authority stretched into the otherworldly domain, being the inheritor of the ancient duty of a Child of the Full Moon.

"It's quite pretty," conceded Estelle that evening as she turned the pendant over and over in her hands, holding it up to the light and inspecting every facet of the Blastia-reactive crystal lens, "However, I'm often not in my armour these days. I'm a little worried this isn't quite delicate enough to match some of my lighter court outfits."

"I can't go any smaller at the moment," Rita frowned, "I could try and make it more concealable..."

Estelle waved her concern away, "Please don't interrupt your vital research for a trivial matter. If anything, it's inspired me to talk to my tailors more. I really don't think these delicate garments suit my frame or the image I wish to present to the world."

"Good on you," Rita grinned, "Don't let those vultures have any more say in your affairs than they should - give these people an inch and they'll take a mile!"

"I see that academic politics is still almost as pleasant as court politics," Estelle frowned, holding the pendant closer to her eyes, "Is it just me, or does the aer in this one feel different to the last model?"

"So its significant enough to be picked up by human senses now? Interesting," Rita muttered, "I’m gradually using more mundane technology and less Blastia in my designs. A lot of this is just a motor. Nobody else has mentioned it, but I suppose your aer-sense is particularly sensitive, though, what with your unique situation..."

"Rita, you're doing the thing again," Estelle glared at her, "Look at me, Rita. Don't mutter under your breath. Don't talk about me like I'm your experimental subject. We talked about this!"

"Sorry!" Rita yelped, shaking her head violently as if waking up from a daydream, "It's hard to shake off the habit, you know, after so long... and you're very distracting, do you know that? You're absolutely fascinating - as a person I want to get to know, not as a lab mouse - and when I'm this inspired, I lose control somewhat. It's hard to pretend I'm anything other than I... why are you blushing?"

"You really do say what you think, don't you? It's refreshing, after the royal courts - there, every word is a knife in your back."

"I assure you, ma'am, my only blades are my surgeon's tools and my reagent cutting devices, and they exist only to make your world better," Rita bowed, "Not that you aren't protected by the finest in..."

"Don't try and overcompensate for mistakes you make, it comes across as immediately obvious," she advised, "And don't call me by formalities in private. They put me in work mode and it makes me tense up."

"Sorry, I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable," Rita was still shaking her hands around, "Look, by my side has to always be the place you can come to unwind, to be yourself, whatever the outside world does to either of us. I..."

She squeaked uncharacteristically, sounding like the startled cat she sometimes dressed as when she wanted to be someone else. The Princess had just grabbed her into a tight, surprisingly well muscled embrace. She smelled of the latest perfume but only the faintest hint of it, not drowning in it like some gaudy nobles out there. To Rita, everything about her really was distractingly perfect, so much so that she felt bad for thinking of upgrading it. It's for preservation, she told herself, like drying a rose to admire for a little while longer... Then she realised how creepy that sounded, got even more flustered, then shrugged and surrendered to the indescribable feeling that flowed through her at the sensations and the thoughts of Estelle's closeness. 

Incited by a rush of some energy that also couldn’t quite be measured yet, that would probably be off the charts, the pendant flared up into a radiant golden glow.


End file.
